As it turns out, literary trilogies involving vice presidential pets are not money makers.
Marlon Bundo, the beloved pet bunny of Vice President Mike Pence’s family, has his own Instagram account, his own acronym (BOTUS) and three children’s books documenting his time in Washington. But financially, he’s not contributing much to the second family.
The trio of books about the well-traveled rabbit, written and illustrated by Karen Pence and her daughter Charlotte, generated between $2,501 and $5,000 in income for the Pence family last year, according to new financial disclosures released Thursday. It was not immediately clear which of the three books — “Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of the Vice President,” “Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Nation’s Capital” or “Marlon Bundo’s Best Christmas Ever” — earned the most in royalties.
The third installment in the mother-daughter series about Bundo’s romp through D.C. was released by Regnery Publishing last month and starts at about $13 for a hardcover copy on Amazon. Through the perspective of Bundo, the book teaches young readers about popular Washington spots like the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, as well as the purpose of the Supreme Court.
Compared with President Donald Trump’s 88-page disclosure, the sparse 10-page document underscores a frequent claim Pence made on the campaign trail: that he and Trump are very much alike except for “a whole lot of zeroes.”
Pence, who rejected a scheduled pay raise during the extended government shutdown earlier this year, currently earns about $230,700 annually for serving as vice president.
He has a pension plan valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, according to his previous financial filings, and carries between $70,005 and $215,000 of student loan debt from his children’s educations.Pence’s wife, Karen, returned to teaching art at a Christian school in Virginia earlier this year, though it is unclear whether she’s being compensated for the part-time work. A spokesperson for the vice president could not immediately be reached for comment.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine